HIRMAN STAR

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Crew taken off unseaworthy ship

The Philippines authorities were working with local crewing agencies and others to resolve a pay dispute and release a crew that had been stranded on the 'Hirman Star', which has been anchored in the Iloilo Strait off off Iloilo City in pos. 10° 42' N 122° 36' E. The crew, which had been signed on on April 3, 2025, was in a standoff with the owners who were refusing their pay, and provisions, until the ship departed, while the crew contended the vessel was unseaworthy. A newly elected representative for Iloilo City, Julienne “Jam Jam” Baronda took an interest in the crew’s plight and intervened to negotiate the resolution. Six Filipino crew were removed from the vessel on June 30, and taken to a hotel. They were debriefed and received medical evaluation before their repatriation. Among the Filipino crew members, three were from the Iloilo towns of Tigbauan, San Joaquin and Estancia. The seven Indian crew members were due to leave the vessel on July 1. The crew was signed on at the start of April by apparently a new owner of the ship, which was operated by Chinese owners until possibly 2024. The owner is now in the UAE, and the vessel has been registered in the Comoros. The shipl had arrived in the Philippines in Aug 2024, carrying a cargo of bags with rice from Vietnam. The Philippines undertook a Port State Inspection and listed 27 deficiencies in a broad range of categories and issued a detention order. They even questioned the seaworthiness of the vessel and found expired certificates. The crew was changed twice, with the current crew coming aboard on April 3 and havomg beem told to prepare for a voyage to Singapore. The Philippines lifted the detention order in April, and the Port Authority granted port clearance on May 7. The vessel was preparing to depart when the gyro compass malfunctioned. The captain contended the owners told the vessel to sail using just a magnetic compass, but the master refused, citing concerns. The crew also reported the vessel was listing, and attempting to rectify the list, they found a crack in the bulbous bow causing a water ingress. The standoff began with the crew refusing to sail saying the ship was unseaworthy. The owners stopped the delivery of food and water on May 12. Further, they only paid partial wages in April and none in May, saying the crew would not be paid until the vessel departed. The crew sought assistance from the office of Iloilo City Lone District Rep. Julienne Baronda on June 28. Baronda convened a meeting with the Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, as well as the Philippine Coast Guard, the Bureaus of Immigration and Customs, and MARINA on June 30. She also spoke with the crewing agencies and the vessel's owner, who had a representative from the UAE in the Philippines. An agreement was reached to settle the pay issues and to immediately provide provisions to the vessel. Baronda and other officials went to the ship to meet with the crew. The Philippines was also providing financial assistance to the crew members and assisting with the repatriations for the Filipinos. The Indian Embassy was assisting the Indian crew members. Report with photos: https://www.manilatimes.net/2025/07/02/regions/13-stranded-seafarers-rescued-after-2-months/2141308